Volume 41, Issue 5,
May 2014

We've endured the havoc that the string of public holidays played on business during April and I'm finding it rather hard to believe we're almost halfway through 2014. Just a few weeks ago I was navigating through the masses at in-cosmetics and now I'm back at the grindstone - visiting Hamburg seems like a distant memory.

A look into the future of Clicks Pharmacy
Setting the bar for sport supplements
One step closer to individualised medicines
A call for businesses to invest in Africa's health
Stable growth forecasted for local pharmaceutical sector
Fragrance house reaches out

As we're focusing on new opportunities for growth on the African continent, it is also worth exploring the prospects that not only major emerging world economies hold, but also those within the developing markets.

Rising exhibition costs, the struggling economy, a noticeable absence of prominent players on the show floor and odd scheduling could have been some of the reasons for poor visitor numbers at this year's Cosmoprof Bologna.

Set on a fertile, rural 40 hectare plantation in Vivo, deep in Limpopo where conditions are ideal to cultivate aloe plants, Aloway Natural Health Products (Aloway) is home to the first manufacturing facility of organic Aloe Vera on an industrial scale in South Africa.

There's been a lot of progression within the aerosols industry of late, with recycling, sustainability, legal metrology and maintaining the highest standards of manufacturing excellence being some of the highlights.

Preservatives are constantly being debated in terms of their risks versus benefits. These long contested ingredients have become somewhat controversial and are seeing multinationals and smaller cosmetics companies reformulate a large number of products to milder systems.

Responsible sourcing is a top priority for Symrise, which is why its latest global sustainability commitment project in partnership with StarShea is contributing to the economic improvement of women in the poorest region of Ghana.

Earthoil Plantations, a division of Treatt, specialises in smallholder producer projects in remote parts of Africa and other areas of the world. It's business is unique, as it supplies ethically sourced, pure, organic, fair trade essential and cold pressed vegetable seed oils for the personal care industry.

The local production of anti-retrovirals (ARVs) could reduce the government's spend on imports and strengthen the South African economy. Yet the road to establishing a thriving ARV manufacturing industry is marred by a plethora of challenges.

Counterfeit drugs pose a threat to both patients and the pharmaceutical industry. To ensure a safer drug supply chain, worldwide laws regulating the serialisation and traceability of pharmaceutical packages are set to come into force in the coming years.